No Such Thing As Never Too Late
by Typo Goblin
Summary: A glimpse into Mayuri's past as well as a take on why he became so corrupted. All three parts now finished.
1. Chapter 1

The creaking of the bamboo cage woke the man sleeping on the futon below it. The little finch hopped from peg to peg, chirping as the first rays of light streamed in through the small window above the bed. He opened his eyes slowly and glanced around the room, the gold irises almost glinting in the sunlight. Satisfied that all was well, they closed again. With a long, deep breath that filled his lungs, his arms slid around the woman beside him and hauled her up against him, allowing him to bury his face against the wealth of black hair.

She let out a soft sigh at being disturbed so early in the day, but the warmth of his body and the security of his strong arms around her soon disbursed any annoyance she might have felt. It would be time for her to wake soon anyway. The last day of harvest in the village. Tomorrow she could sleep as late as she wanted to, next to the man she loved.

The silence was broken by the even pattering of bare feet running over the rough wood floor. A young boy, perhaps six or seven flung himself down onto the futon at their feet and then crawled his way up to wedge his body between them.

"Mayuri-san, will you teach me more today?" He asked, his face mere inches from the man's.

"Yes." He grumbled without opening his eyes, a bit annoyed at having the woman shimmied from his grasp. The emotion was easily quelled though, within the first moment of focusing his mind. "But a true warrior has patience, and not simply when waiting for an enemy to make a mistake. Go sit outside and prepare the bokken, then wait for me. I will be out in ten minutes." He told the young boy.

He excitedly jumped up, and more calmly then his entrance, left the room, the sound of his footsteps retreating back into silence. Even the bird had gone quiet. He opened his eyes when he felt the first indications of her body shifting as she turned to face him.

"He looks to you as he might his own father." She said softly, her soft brown eyes groggily meeting his. "And you treat him as you might your own son." She couldn't hide the appreciation in her voice when she told him this.

"He is of you. His happiness makes you happy, therefore, his happiness is as much my responsibility as your own." He pointed out calmly. "Besides, he shows an aptitude for the blade, it is a joy to teach the art to such a bright student." He informed her. "Does it bother you that he has an interest in such a life-threatening art?"

The woman thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "It is honorable, I think, to be a warrior. If he learns well, and is as good as you say, then I have little fear for his life. A good warrior does not fall easily in battle, right?"

The man nodded with a soft smile. "You are right, and I will ensure that he has all of the tools needed to return home to you safe and sound." He assured her.

"Well if anyone can teach him, I suppose it's a being from another world all together who's only life is to fight soul sucking monsters." She laughed, nuzzling his chest lightly, making him shiver at the contact of her lips against his skin. "You had better go out there before Hayaki gets excited and comes back in to attack us." She laughed, letting her fingers slide through his dark hair before releasing him.

"Mm, I suppose you're right." Mayuri agreed reluctantly. He slipped from the bed and pulled on his clothes for the day.

The fabric was rough and unrefined. Certainly not as nice as could be found in Soul Society but this had a more satisfying feel to it. Someone's hands had crafted every fiber of this garment, someone's livelihood thrived on him wearing this garment. His work was hard, to be sure, but this spoke of a dedication as well.

At first, the thought of being put on this assignment, a long term station in the living world, had been disheartening. Being separated from one's home for so long was off putting to say the least. As time had gone on, nearly five years now, he'd grown to love it. Another glance at the woman in the bed, trying to squeeze a few more minutes of sleep out of the fading night, confirmed that feeling.

He was glad to be here. His gigai now felt as real to him as his body in Soul Society, perhaps even more comfortable. Especially when he had the lovely Keiko in his arms. His light in the dark, hard world that was the living realm.

She had been the wife of a man who was completely undeserving of life, let alone a beautiful, loving woman and beautiful child. He'd been a warrior, but a hard one prone to indulging in sake and temper. He'd left when their son was very young and had never been seen again. Mayuri often wondered if he could find him and teach him a lesson, but then Keiko would remind him that he was in a different part of their lives and could no longer hurt them.

Besides if he did return, then Mayuri would be there to protect them. Now that he was in her life, she had nothing to fear on any front. She had lied to the other villagers and insisted they had been married. As a single woman, with a child, she was no longer pressured to marry. It also gave her son a strong man to look up to. A man more deserving of the role than the man who had fathered him.

Stepping out into the cool autumn air, Mayuri could see the beginnings of chill breath streaming from his lips. Soon enough it would be easy to see. The little boy was sitting cross legged in the small area that served as a backyard for Keiko's house. Two training swords sat on the drying grass, one in front of him, the other a few feet away. His eyes opened and he grinned happily at seeing the man approach.

He was about average height for a man, though his presence could have been overwhelming for a man taller and larger than he. His body was all muscle, well honed and kept, fluid with it's grace and surety. His lithe form also made him appear taller than he actually was. His skin was perhaps a bit more pale than was healthy, but a smart man wouldn't be fooled by such a thing.

"Are you ready to begin, Hayaki?"

The boy nodded solemnly and the lesson began.

The softly falling snow sent a chill through Keiko's body, which sent her burrowing deeper against Mayuri. They sat on the small porch overlooking the sprawling valley in which they lived. Mayuri held her against his chest as she sat between his legs. Her head rested back against his shoulder comfortably, nestled against his body with the heavy wool blanket draped over them.

"Hayaki claims himself in love." She said softly. The silence had been comforting, but this had been bothering her for some time and it always helped to voice her troubles to him.

"Is that so? The young man has his first love." Mayuri said with a soft chuckle. "Only thirteen and already wise to the ways of romance?"

"Mm, it would seem so." She said with pursed lips. "Are you not worried?"

"Why would I be?" Mayuri asked with as much innocence as possible. He wouldn't want her to think that he thought her worrying to be foolish. "Soon enough he will realize that love is something that needs to be work on, nourished and built upon. His infatuation will fade. Then he'll have another, but eventually he will learn what true love is." He assured her. "It may, however, take a few minor heart breaks to come to the realization though."

Keiko sighed softly. "If only I could spare him the pain I have felt."

"Not all romances end as horribly as your first did." He pointed out, kissing the top of her head gently, taking in a deep lungful of her heady scent. "And it gave me an opening to be with you." He added. "So not all ends badly."

"True." She laughed. "I still have yet to figure out how it is you came into my life. You just walked in one day. I still have fears that you will remove yourself from my life just as easily."

He squeezed her against him gently. She shivered slightly as his hair, which now needed a haircut as it fell to his shoulders, tickled her cheek. "Do not fear such a thing." _I will be here for many hundreds of years, to endure the pain of your passing long after you are gone._ He added silently to himself. Yet, the memory of moments like these would sustain him for the rest of his life. This assignment had been the best thing to happen to him. "I do not believe that I will be removed from here in the near future. Those with assignments like mine are doing much good for the world." He assured her.

The yearly report trip to Soul Society had not gone smoothly this year. The higher ups were thinking of calling back all of the shinigami from their extended posts in the real world. They said that most hollow could be handled on a single encounter basis and that there was no longer any need for their continued presence there. Within the next year, he should be expected to return to Seireitei for permanent positioning within one of the 13 Court Guard Squads. The Living Realm Scout Force would be disbanded.

By the time Mayuri had returned to the living world, and the valley he called home, he was furious. There was no way he could return home like this and worry Keiko. What would he do? He'd promised to marry her, in front of the village elders who were beginning to ask questions. This would prove they had nothing to hide and he wasn't afraid of showing the world that he belonged to her.

It was pure dumb luck that had him stumble across the path of a hollow. This would be the perfect vent for him, just what he needed. After putting a good fight behind him, he would be able to go home to Keiko and perhaps even work up the courage to tell why he would have to leave. With a growl of annoyance at reminding himself of the pain he would cause her, he jumped into the trees and toward the distant sound of a lumbering hollow.

The creature was clearly inept, perhaps even a newly formed hollow. He came up behind it and with a sweep of his blade, cut a bloody gash over its back. It howled in pain and whirled to face him, but ended up stumbling as the poison on his zanpakuto moved through its body. With a weak cry, it fell onto his back and spasmed against the ground.

Judging by the short amount of time it took to weaken it, the creature was a very weak one. Looming over it, Mayuri scowled in disgust at the creature, it's blank, black eyes staring up at him. There was no malice or hate in its gaze, it simply was. A creature bound by instinct to devour souls of the living and dead. It couldn't even understand at its young age why it was hunted by such a man.

It gave a weak yowl of pain and attempted to raise an arm when Mayuri sliced a long wound down it's disfigured torso. It was rewarded by the removal of its limb. Still, Mayuri did not kill it. He watched it squirm in pain, ever weakening even as it attempted to attack him in defense. Another limb went before he removed all three of the long, spindly legs in one swoop.

Broken and destroyed, the creature could only whine for release and hiss in rage as it twitched on the ground. Mayuri watched it for a long few minutes, standing well out of its range to do harm, though it was incapacitated. Finally, no longer entertained by its pain, a slice through the mask dissolved the creature and any of the limbs that remained on the ground.

"Mayuri!" Hayaki called out, raising an arm to make himself seen as he jogged toward the taller man. He had grown into a handsome young man, many of his features mirroring his mothers. His dark hair was pulled back into a topknot, which was fitting for his oval face. His brown eyes were much lighter than Keiko's, but still held the laughter of the little boy he'd grown to love.

"Not now, Hayaki." Mayuri grumbled, sliding closed the door behind him before the young man could argue. In his early 20's now, he was able to understand that it was nothing personal. Something was wrong, clearly, but in time he would find out what was bothering his mother's lover, if it was worth knowing. Perhaps he was just having a bad day.

Keiko frowned, watching him slide the door closed in her son's face. "Mayuri," she said, a slight hint of admonishment in her voice. "What is the matter with you?"

"I have to talk to you about something." He said, his gaze dark with some, yet unknown to her, troubles.

Her frown turned from one of disapproval to worry. "You don't want to marry me." She said flatly. She had always secretly worried that she had been nothing more than a tool to warm his bed and home to occupy.

He half glared at her, walking to grip her shoulders. "Don't be stupid." He admonished. Then, more gently, he pulled her against him. "I want nothing more than to marry you. But I don't know if I'll be allowed to do so."

"What in the world are you talking about?" She asked him, trying to pull away from him slightly to look up.

"My superiors are, stupidly, thinking about recalling my assignment." He said flatly, letting his displeasure show in his voice.

"Well what does that mean?" She asked with a small, nervous laugh that held no humor. She knew what he was, that he was not fully mortal as she was, but suddenly realized how little about him she knew.

"That I would have to go back to my world." He said, explaining it in the simplest way he knew how.

She stopped a moment, thinking over what she wanted to say, what it would mean to her. "Would I be able to go with you? Would we, Hayaki and I?"

Slowly, Mayuri shook his head. "I'm afraid not." It was only a half lie. But, he wasn't about to tell her that if he killed them, in a way, they would be able to go.

Again, she was silent. She remained so for quite a while, standing in front of him with her gaze lowered, hiding her expressions. It killed him not to see her face. He wanted to know what she was thinking. Would she understand? Not that it would make it any easier, he told himself inwardly. Finally, he touched her cheek gently, forcing down the anger he felt toward himself. He'd had no right to fall in love with her, or worse, to let her fall in love with him. He should have known that it would never work.

"Keiko?"

"You've been here for 17 years, Mayuri. Did you know that?" She asked, pausing a moment. He knew she wasn't asking expecting an answer, so he remained silent. "Every day, of every month, of all of those 17 years I've expected you to walk out of my life."

He opened his mouth to say something, but immediately stopped when she looked up at him, tears making her brown eyes sparkle. Had they been tears of joy, it would have been a stunningly beautiful look, but the pain that reflected from her soul cut into him like a knife. "And now I'm getting older, my hair will start turning grey and wrinkles will grow more prominent, my body will start to sag and grow out instead of up." Her hands slid into the slight part at the front of his kimono.

"But you," She said, sliding it open and over his shoulders so that it hung from his waist where it tucked into his hakama. "You are as perfect as the day you walked into this village. Not a muscle has grown soft, not a hair changed from it's original color and not a line on your perfect face." Her fingers drew down his jaw to fall and rest on his bare chest, feeling the hard muscles beneath the palm of her hand.

"Keiko!" He fairly yelled, grabbing a hold of her hand between both of his. "You are more beautiful now than the day I first laid eyes on you. I will not hear you speak such things of yourself. I did not first persure you for your looks and it will not be the reason I leave. If I had my way, I would never leave, no matter how grey, wrinkled or saggy you become. If I had the power, I would age with you."

He shook his head, almost angry that she'd even think such a thing. "I don't think I can fully explain to you why I have to leave. To stay would mean my death, and perhaps yours as well. I cannot stand for such a thing. You just have to trust that I _will_ find you again someday." He knew the odds of finding one specific soul in Soul Society after their death. An odd that was made even longer when one did not know when said soul would enter Soul Society, if they ever did at all. Even if he could meet such odds, he would have to get her to fall in love with him all over again as she would have no memory of her former life.

"You're leaving. No amount of wishing and hoping will keep you here." She said with a resigned sigh. When he looked into her eyes the light he had fallen in love with was fading. "From what I hear, I will not be the same when we meet again, and neither will you. If we ever meet again. You talk in your sleep sometimes." She told him. "You have nightmares about running through streets trying to find me. You always wake up, but you never find me." She murmured, her voice growing softer as her tale went on.

"But I did find you once. Against forces that would oppose us, both in your world and mine. I will find you again." He promised vehemently, more to himself than her. He was afraid to admit the truth. "Please, Keiko, don't give up on me now. We have several months together before I'll be recalled, perhaps even a whole year. During that time we can figure this out. We can make it work. I love you, I have to make this work." He told her, squeezing her against him tightly. "I will make it work. I would rather die than be without you in my life."

He felt her hands slide up his back, one bunching in his hair to hold tightly. "So would I…" She whispered against his shoulder.

They were given nearly a full year together before the order to return came. He stretched that time for as long as he could, avoiding telling her for nearly a week after the messenger departed. Their year together had been filled with life and many of the milestones that were meant to be celebrated. They were married as planned, a ceremony that helped Keiko's mood considerably. No matter what happened, even if she never saw him again, she had a connection with him that no one could refute. Years down the road, someone might tell her he never existed, but she would know that he wasn't just a dream. They celebrated the birth of their first grandchild. Hayaki refused to think of Mayuri now as anything other than his father. Here was a man who had raised him, who had taken care of him and his mother and most importantly, made both of them happy.

The little boy who'd almost been afraid of Mayuri when he'd first appeared had grown into quite the man. He'd been a better student than Mayuri could have ever dreamed for. A formidable warrior who would be able to protect the village for decades after Mayuri left. Perhaps that had been his purpose for training him all along. Not the boy's desire to learn, but for a need to leave protection after he was gone. Even perhaps to leave a legacy.

Keiko sat with her son now, beside his beautiful wife with her grandchild happily in her arms. Mayuri stood behind her, smiling down softly at the infant in his wife's arms. He looked exactly as Hayaki had when he was an infant Keiko told him. It allowed him to fill in some of the blank spots of his life before Mayuri, memories he, as a father, should possess.

When Keiko smiled up at him, he saw, as if for the first time, what a beautiful woman she had blossomed into. When they had first met, two decades ago, she was lovely to be sure. Curves to make the waves of the sea jealous, hair a silk worm would envy and eyes so bright they blinded him with love. She had aged slightly, but all of those qualities were there now, and more.

Her hands were weathered with work and love. It had been hard to raise a child on her own for a time, but she'd been given help. It allowed her to turn toward love as well. Those hands had given him pleasure and comfort both. They knew every inch of his body, every strand of hair and curve of his face. Just as he knew her. He looked down at his own ageless hands. They had not changed during his time in the living world. He doubted there would be little change at all in the next hundred years. But oh, how he wished they would.

When the infant began to yawn and fidget, his mother took him gently back. Hayaki smiled and kissed his mother's cheek before hugging Mayuri roughly. He left Keiko to walk them out, though his intentions were not so simple.

"Hayaki, could I speak to you for a moment?" The young man nodded and bid his wife to go ahead and make her way home. He would just be a step behind.

"Is something wrong?" He asked seriously.

Mayuri nodded after a moment. "I have to leave." When Hayaki opened his mouth to speak, Mayuri raised a patient hand. "Not for a few days, or weeks, but forever. I can't explain to you why, or where I will be going, but know that there is nothing within my power to prevent it. If I could stay here forever, I would."

Hayaki nodded solemnly, sadly. There was nothing else for him to say. He knew better than to argue with Mayuri. No words would change it. This was his statement of fact.

"I would have you look after your mother. I know you do already, but more will be needed. I fear she will try something when I am gone. She may try to hurt herself. You'll need to help her move forward. Make sure she is happy, don't let her pass up a good life, or a good man in my memory."

"I will try my best, but I do not think I will be able to do as you ask. In my mother's eyes, and my own as well, there is no better life, and no better man for her than you, Mayuri. You came when she needed you most. You filled the role of husband and father when she was about to give up on life." He looked down at the ground for a moment.

"Honestly, I'm not convinced there is anything I can do if she decides she does not want to live any more. I will of course keep her from physically harming herself, but people have died before of a broken heart." He pointed out gently. The sadness in his eyes, despite the extensive training he'd received from Mayuri, was very apparent.

He clapped the boys shoulder and nodded. "I know how they feel." He said softly. "Take care of yourself and your family. Don't ever leave them, Hayaki." He said sternly. He knew it was a double standard, but he hoped that wouldn't get in Hayaki's way of obeying him. With a nod, the young man looked up at his father once more before turning and following his wife down the path to their home.

Keiko stood and watched him as he slid the door closed behind him. When she saw the tears swimming in his eyes, a sight she'd never witnessed before, she sank to her knees.

"Keiko…" Her name fell from his lips in a whisper that was barely audible. "Please don't…" He sank down in front of her and pulled her into his arms.

"It's okay," She whispered, her voice breaking. "I've had a long time to prepare myself for this. I'm not angry the way I was when you first told me you would be leaving."

He looked down at her, his hands framing her face. "I don't want to do this. Keiko, I don't want to leave you."

"But you have to." She told him, wiping away her tears quickly. "When do you have to go?"

"Soon. But not now. I have tonight with you and I don't care if they like it or not."

"You're mine for one more night?" She asked him hopefully, her hands tightening around the fabric of his hakama where they rested on his thighs.

"I am yours forever, Keiko."

He sat in bed the next morning and debated waking her at all. Would it be easier if he left without saying goodbye, or would she hate him for not giving her the chance to say the words? Eventually, he leaned over to kiss her soft lips, rousing her from her deep sleep. She sat up quickly, her soft brown eyes now wide with fear.

"Already?" She asked, disappointed. He nodded slowly and slipped from the bed.

"You can walk with me to the gate if you'd like." He told her, his voice almost monotone, completely devoid of emotion.

"But I cannot go through it with you?" She asked, quickly slipping out of bed to dress as well.

"It would mean your death. I cannot allow such a thing, not when there is a chance that I will be able to come back." He told her, softening slightly when he turned to look at her. Her hair was mussed slightly, kimono hastily thrown on. Still, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "I have to thank you, Keiko. You're the best companion a man could ask for. I will be better for having known you."

She shook her head quickly and closed her eyes to hold back tears. "You deserved better."

He laughed softly and pulled her against him. "You did, certainly. I have everything I'll ever need in you." He told her. Pulling away gently he finished dressing. Taking up his Zanpakuto, he strapped it to his side.

"It isn't far." He told her, turning to face her once more. "Are you sure you want to come?"

"Every moment I can get with you, I will." She said, hooking her arm through his.

It was still too early for most of the villagers to be up. The strong, heady scent of spring filled the air. Soon the fields would be planted and life would begin again everywhere. Yet, Keiko could not help but feel that her life was ending. There would be no joy in the flowers blooming this year, when she could not share their sweet scent with the one she had loved for the better part of her life. The other half of her soul.

He led her out of the village, to the thin forest that led up the eastern side of their valley. Already he could see the Senkai gate opening in anticipation of his return. He'd expected some sort of reaction from Keiko at its sight. Fear, perhaps awe or wonder. She didn't seem to notice it.

"You made my life worth living, Mayuri. I don't know what I'll do without you. But, if you can promise that I'll see you again in life, I will live to be 200 waiting for you, and if you can promise I'll see you again in death, then I will wait my turn to see you again in the afterlife as well. I don't care when or where, just promise that you will come for me." She begged him, holding as tightly to him as she could manage.

"I promise." He told her, his gold eyes affirming his words as he met her gaze. Her fingers brushed through his purple hair, fractured and darkened by the shadows of the early morning sun breaking through the trees.

She kissed him deeply, trying to pour the love for all the years they would miss together into it. "I love you." She whispered against his lips.

"I love you too, Keiko. Live long, and be happy." He urged her, before he let her go and stepped back into the gate. The light enveloped him before the doors slid closed and took him away from her forever.

It was said that every day for the rest of her life she went to that forest to wait. The months faded away and blurred together. Sadly, her time on that earth was not to be much longer. The protection of a man such as Mayuri was heavy and the void left by his absence invited more trouble than any in Soul Society could have imagined.

But still, for many years life in the village he departed was slow and steady and for many very happy. The beautiful Keiko never found love again, but she seemed content with the memories she had. Hayaki and his children kept her company as well. A more beautiful grandson or granddaughter would never be found for the rest of time. Their existence and innocent perfection was made sad by the shortness of their lives and the horror that was to follow.

Mayuri would return again, as he had promised, but far too late to save the legacy he had left behind with the people he loved.

To Be Continued.


	2. Chapter 2

The days passed with excruciating slowness for Keiko, yet she was blessed to look back on years that seemed to fly by when they had finally finished. Her grandchildren, of which there were three, were perfect and beautiful. Her only grandson, Yuki, already nearing seven, was a miniature of his father. The two granddaughters were beautiful like their mother, and grandmother, Hayaki pointed out.

Despite her missing Mayuri every day, her life she had to admit, was not all bad. The valley was peaceful and her son had no need to demonstrate the skills he had been taught by the Shinigami. But even remote as their little valley was, as peaceful as its inhabitants were, nothing good lasted forever. As Mayuri had left and taken her love with him, so would the peace and happiness of the valley leave as well.

The village was taken by surprise. A band of a larger, sweeping army descended upon them in the middle of the night, leaving only the fastest of the warriors among them to take up their arms and defend their homes. Hayaki was among the first to both take up arms, and fall. Despite all of his training, and his considerable skill with a blade, not even he could hold back an army. The enemy realized very quickly what trouble this one would give them and took care of him immediately.

It was her grandson, wise beyond his years and somehow able to keep his composure amid the blood and screams, who brought her the news. He'd managed to sneak from his own house to hers, a considerable distance. Yuki woke her frantically, looking over his shoulder. The light that flickered through her windows was all wrong. Orange and intense. Despite the fact that her house sat a ways away from the main village, it was bright enough to illuminate the child beside her. His pants were splattered with blood. Unusual voids suggested that perhaps someone had been standing in front of him, shielding him.

"Yuki!" She gasped. "What happened?"

She got no response from the terrified boy. He tried to speak, but his sobs made it nearly impossible to breathe let alone form a sentence. The bang of someone slamming aside the door instantly silenced him. It was probably that reaction that had kept him alive thus far. He buried his face against her chest and gripped her kimono so tightly she felt it might rip in his little fingers.

A terrible feeling told her that the blood on her grandson's clothes belonged to his family and that her person breaking into her house was partly responsible for it.

"Where are you, you little rat?" A deep voice bellowed. She didn't know if it actually shook the walls, but her mind told her it did. Perhaps it was her own body shaking. She swooped the boy up into her arms and kicking off the blankets, jumped up out of the bed.

The two, the only left of Keiko and Mayuri's family, escaped into the forest together. Like the back of her hand, she knew the exact spot where Mayuri had left her. It was not far from the village and she could still hear the cries of women and children, the shouts of outrage from dying men. She could even hear the cracklings of fires that destroyed people's lives. The orange glow so bright in the night that it illuminated them even that far into the forest, casting flickering shadows in front of them.

Keiko sank to her knees, holding her shivering grandson to her tightly. "Mayuri," She whispered, her emotions so deep with terror and need that she was sure her prayer would be answered. "We need you. Please, do not leave us. We _need_ you so badly right now. Do not leave us to this terror. Don't leave me.." She whispered.

The approach of foot steps behind her brought a fresh wave of terror. Yuki whimpered and held tighter to her, furthering her own fears. She beat them down, needing to be strong for the boy. Mayuri will come, Mayuri will come, Mayuri will come….over and over the litany was repeated until it was all that remained in her mind.

_Mayuri will come…_

The days for Mayuri were spent immersing himself so deeply into his work that it defined him. Even when worried friends would point it out, he would just bury himself deeper into his work to avoid the stress of disappointing those who cared about him. He had become a creature of habit. Sleep, eat, work, train and begin it all again the next day. There was no room for fun or friends. It was as if he was imposing some self punishment and for something he had no control over to begin with.

When word reached him that there may be a one or two man group going to the living world to dispatch a hollow that had been causing a particular amount of trouble, Mayuri of course jumped for the opportunity. It was the most passionate anyone had seen him in years. He left his work and went over the heads of superiors in a desperate attempt to visit Keiko before her death would make it next to impossible to meet with her ever again.

Those alienated few who might still call themselves his friends were relieved to see a smile on his face when he was given permission to join two newly stationed Shinigami to the living realm. He would go to supervise and aid them if they needed help dispatching the Hollow. They had no idea that the trip would be more than a normal dispatching, that they would be taking a detour at all.

The day of departure had Mayuri pacing nervously in front of the Senkai gate nearly a full two hours before the two to join him had even begun to prepare for their trip. He shot both of them icy glares when they finally arrived, both early, as if they were incredibly late.

"I would think that the two of you would be excited to go to the living world for the first time. I'd have thought you would be a little more prompt then this. Very disappointing." He told them, looking from one to the other.

"Sir, we're both here before the scheduled departure time, well before. Were we misinformed on that time?"

"Quiet!" He barked, abruptly turning his back on them, clearly too annoyed to give them the courtesy of face to face conversation. "Let's just leave. We have much to accomplish and little time to do it in."

The two recruits glanced at each other uneasily. This clearly would not be a man who would be easy to deal with. He was going to make them earn every little bit of respect, if there was indeed any to be earned.

Outside, the man seemed harsh and unyielding. Yet, inside, he was filled with joy and hope. The idea of seeing Keiko again excited him a great deal. It had been the waiting to do so that made him irritable and unapproachable.

The travel through the Senkai gate was a fairly normal one. The only surprise lay in the destination. The scene that greeted the two younger shinigami was a surprise from the expected. They should have been in a rather well populated town, one that would in a few decades surely grow into a bustling city. Instead, there was nothing but forest around them. There shouldn't have even been a forest here. Just a coast and a town.

"Sir, I think perhaps a mistake was made." One spoke up. The older of the two. His light blond hair had spikes of shadow thrown over it, darkening the tone slightly. What was his name? Damn, he didn't have time to remember that sort of thing. This would probably be the only time he would ever work with them in his entire life.

"No. I don't particularly like the implication that I have made some sort of error." He said shortly, his patience growing ever thinner with these two.

He made his way through the trees that grew a little heavier than he remembered. Scorch marks marred some of the older trees, the stronger ones. All the rest was new growth and it was thick. Couldn't have been there for more than ten years though.

Even more shocking was the state of the village. The well kept roads and paths were now in a perpetual state of mud. Houses were falling apart at the seams. Every deformity imaginable was visible in at least one of them. Sagging roofs, broken hinged shutters, cracked doors, even torn paper windows.

Rats and children alike scampered through the roads and around the decrepit houses. He recognized none of the young ones, either directly or through similarities to parents. None of the faces that they passed or saw through windows looked familiar either. No adult or child could be recognized.

He knew his Keiko would see him where these mortals just looked through him. She had always, as her son had been able to as well, see him when he was out of his gigai.

Because the house sat out of the way, it wasn't until he was nearly on top of the pile of rotten ashes that he saw what had happened. Burned to the ground entirely. Every beam, plank of flooring and shingle.

"Sir," One of the Shinigami interrupted his silent shock. "We scouted the town out. It looks like an army town. There are tents with more women and children. Stockpiles of weapons and goods. But no men of fighting age anywhere." He explained. His voice was flat and strong, a simple statement of facts.

"This _isn't_ an army town." Mayuri stated coldly.

"It is now, Sir. They haven't been here long. Just a few years. One or two, maybe."

"And the people who lived here before?" He asked, wanting the man's theory. If he had determined this much, perhaps he knew the pattern. Though, Mayuri had already guessed what happened here.

"Most likely," He paused, unsure if he should really tell the truth. "dead." He finished quickly. "No wonder there's such a high concentration of Hollow here. There always is where wars break out." He pointed out, as if that would help the situation at all.

"So, the husbands and fathers of the women and children living here advance ahead, take over whatever towns they please. They kill the people inhabiting it and then let their whores and spawn move in to good people's homes and destroy those as well?" He asked, his tone chilling.

"Yes…sir." The man responded hesitantly, the tone sending a shiver through him. "They travel through the country on the order of some grand master until an opposing force stops them. They're a long term, destruction and conquering force. Hence taking their families with them."

"Would destroying their families and all of their stockpiles be considered an opposing force worthy of stopping them."

"Most likely the weapons left here are simply overstock from those they capture, but eventually they dig into them. And the food as well, so yes. It may not be immediate, but they would feel the loss of the supplies. As for the family, that would be a, well.." He stuttered not sure how to put it. "It would not effect the strength of the army, but moral would plunge, I'm sure."

"So it would be icing on the cake." Mayuri asked, his white teeth showing in a fierce grin.

"If that was how you wanted to put it." The man agreed, clearly worried by both Mayuri's tone and grin. He made a quick glance toward the village. What in the world was he thinking?

"Then let's do it." Mayuri said after a moment, viciously kicking at the pile of charcoal at his foot, sending it scattering in front of him.

"Sir?"

"Kill them. Destroy the supplies."

The man just balked. His mouth was still open when Mayuri turned to look at him.

"Not going to do it? Going to make me do it myself are you?"

"Sir, this isn't what we came here for. This isn't even where we're supposed to be. We're due to subdue a Hollow nearly three days travel south of here. We can't just go around killing mortals. That's rather…frowned upon." He said quickly, his fears growing as the dull yellow eyes were now trained on him, chilling in their lack of humanity.

"Fine!" Mayuri flared, pulling out his Zanpakuto. "I'll do it myself." He shoved the man hard against the shoulder as he passed. "Just go away."

The two watched him stalk away for a moment, looking from Mayuri to each other several times. Was this really happening? Was he really going to kill all of those people?

"I think we should go back…warn someone." One suggested, swallowing hard as he watched Mayuri disappear over the rise.

Without answering, the two turned and ran back toward the Senkai gate.

By the time the squad of lieutenants and seated Shinigami came through to subdue the homicidal Mayuri, it was too late. The damage had been done and it was extensive. A group of bodies lay at the edge of the village that was nestled against the trees, where he'd caught them by surprise. The rest were huddled in corners of houses, a few larger groups in communal buildings.

They found Mayuri, covered in blood, sitting atop the dirt and ash pile that had once been Keiko's home. His home. His Zanpakuto lay beside him, discarded carelessly. The usually pristine silver blade was chipped and smeared with blood.

"Sir, we need you to come back with us." The lieutenant said gently, not sure what mood this man might be in. He didn't want to put anyone else in danger or cause any more trouble.

He couldn't suppress a shiver when Mayuri raised his eyes to look at him. They were empty and cold. Whoever this man was, he was no longer the Mayuri that Seireitei knew. It took no force to bring him back to Seireitei. He'd gone willingly, even eagerly.

His silence during the trial was eerie. He didn't try to prove innocence, even going so far as to admit his crime. The killing of hundreds of mortals. His even account of the event, as well as the new style of dress had those who bore witness on edge. The black and white paint that hid his face, from himself and the world did nothing to keep them from believing he had truly plunged into madness.

His years in the 2nd squad's prison and ultimate release into the leadership of the 12th squad sent Mayuri on a journey he could never have imagined, even in a delusional hallucination. Perhaps it would have been a blessing if it had all been a hallucination or horrible nightmare. Yet, every day he woke up to the horror of his life. The more he tried to block out that past life, the more insane he seemed to become.

The entire time Mayuri's horrible transformation was occurring, Kurotsuchi Keiko wandered the realm of Soul Society stuck in her own nightmare. She remembered every detail of her life, even the events leading up to her death. Yet worse still was living with the knowledge that every day Mayuri failed to find her, the worry that he'd break his promise grew. He'd promised to find her, in her living life or the next.

The odd stories of a man who bore the same name lent her little comfort. If he was the same man, then there was no hope of him finding her, for the Mayuri she knew had died, just as sure as her own mortal body had.

Years Later….

Keiko took a deep breath and steeled herself. She'd managed to get this far in her career as a Shinigami without anyone figuring out who she was. But then, she was supposed to be _dead_, she reminded herself. She wasn't supposed to remember her former life. And yet, she did. It was ironic that the only man who could explain why was the man she was looking for. Perhaps he was also the reason she'd retained her memories.

Through her years in the academy and consequent stationing in squad seven, she'd avoided Mayuri. She couldn't stand the thought of the insane and cruel Taichou of the Research Squad being her Mayuri. She'd heard such horrible stories, stories she didn't want to believe were true. For the fear of them being so, she'd avoided him at all costs. It had taken her a long time to work up the courage to go and see this man.

Now she stood before the rather plain looking gate that marked the territory of Kurotsuchi Mayuri. She couldn't imagine seeing him the way she pictured in her mind. The way others described him. A hideous creature who preyed on the fear of others, who gained delight from painful experiments. Just the looks on people faces when they told her about him. The raw fear.

"Keiko? Are you the 3rd seat from squad seven who requested to see Kurotsuchi Taichou?" Asked a rather nondescript shinigami who stood near the door to an odd looking building that could only hold some sort of lab.

"Yes, I'm she." She responded, glad that she sounded more confident and secure than she felt.

"This way please. Kurotsuchi Taichou is waiting for you." The young man almost sounded as if he felt sorry for her. That did nothing to alleviate her fears. Neither did their passing through the labyrinth of corridors and laboratories. The longer it took to set eyes on the man she'd loved so many years ago, the more her mind wandered on the horrible possibilities.

"You're late!" Came an annoyed screech. A rather thin shinigami woman scurried out of his way like a beaten puppy when he swirled around to face Keiko. She'd turned to thank her escort but he was already gone. Judging by everyone's fear of this man, she guessed he'd been gone the moment he was sure she'd be able to reach her destination.

With a quick, steadying breath, she turned her head to look at Mayuri. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Surely this wasn't him! It was all she could do not to let out a gasp of shock. The only feature she recognized of the old Mayuri were the pure gold eyes. Peering out from such a hideous mask of black and white, they were cold now. Evil.

She swallowed hard and raised her chin. "Mayuri…" She said softly, a small test to see if he knew, if he remembered.

His eyes flared with anger and his own chin raised, forcing him to look down his nose at her. "Is this a joke?" He asked, sneering to expose pearl white teeth. His head snapped to the side, gold eyes locked on the woman she assumed was his Fukutaichou. "Who is this?" He demanded.

"K…Keiko, Mayuri-sama." She stammered, looking around frantically. Had she gotten the name wrong? Why was he so angry?

His eyes turned to her again, so cold that Keiko actually shivered. "Keiko what?" He asked with another snarl, taking a few steps toward her, then instantly he was a scant few inches in front of her. He leaned down to examine her face, his own so close to hers that she could feel his body heat. In the past, she wouldn't have hesitated to kiss him, or hold him, or just stare into his eyes. Now, she had to fight the urge to gag. He even smelled different. Like chemicals and death.

"Is this a joke? What is your last name?" He yelled, shaking her shoulders.

"I can't tell you." She said, glaring up at him now. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Get out of my sight!" He yelled, using the hands on her shoulders to throw her away from him. It was all she remembered when she hit the wall, the look of contempt on his face before she blacked out. That sight, and the feeling of misery that filled every corner of her being.

He turned on Nemu then. "Who's sick joke is this?!" He yelled at her, leaning over her so that she had to kneel slightly to keep from connecting foreheads. "Who found out about Keiko?" He asked, his eyes glinting threateningly. "And _who_ would dare such a joke?"

When he saw that she had no answer, he turned toward the woman crumpled against the wall. It wasn't even close to possible, he told himself. She was dead. As dead as he was.

"Is there a reason why you are requesting that you are not stationed with squad 12?" Her Taichou asked. He was sitting across from her in his office, a tray of tea between them. "I realize that your first meeting with the Taichou did not go well, however given the ability of your zanpakuto, I do not see any alternative for you."

"Please, any other squad but that one." She said again, wringing her hands in her lap. "There are too many ghosts there."

"From your past?" He asked with a hint of concern. "What sort of ghosts?"

She shook her head. "I cannot tell you, I'm sorry. Any other squad, any other station and I will not complain, no matter how bad."

He sighed and raised his hands slightly, palm out. "I'm sorry, there is nothing that I can do. With your ability to remember your living life and the possibility that your zanpakuto may help others remember their former lives, there simply is no other station or squad for you, Keiko."

She swallowed hard and willed the ache that was in her throat not to manifest into tears. "If that is where I must be…" She said softly, resigning herself to her fate. "Then it is there that I will go."

Without waiting to be dismissed, she rose from the rough tatami mat and bowed out of the room. It was a short walk to the barracks. Her last night there at the dorms of the seventh squad. Tomorrow she would begin the orientation for life in the 12th squad. Already there was talk of her going around the Court Guard Squads. Her and her recently released shikai. She had no doubt that it was magnified by the fact that she was unwilling to share any information about her past. It was like she'd given them half the riddle and they bothered her all the more for the rest of it. She had a past life in her mind, but refused to share.

How many other shinigami had wondered what their living life had been like? What had they done for a living? Did they have a family? How did they die? She knew all of these things and could see how others felt about her knowledge. Some reacted with awe, others with a jealous anger. She found that she rather resented the ability. It left her with more fears and doubts, more nightmares than anyone should have to deal with. It left her with an emptiness that nothing could fill. When others grew depressed, they could bury themselves in their training, get lost in their jobs. For her, this profession had been part of the problem in her past. Nearly everything that had gone wrong in her living life could be related to a Shinigami.

Or rather, one single one.

Now, with her shikai, the pestering would be worse. She had been lucky that the man who'd been with her when she'd finally cracked her zanpakuto had be given good memories of a past life. The shock left him with very few that he could call up, but as the ripple of news ran through Seireitei, there was no doubt.

Keiko could give you the memories of your living life.

Despite the fears she'd had of joining the 12th squad, everything seemed to be working out. Mayuri hadn't shown any interest at all in her shikai. In fact, he went out of his way to ignore the fact that she even existed. People left her alone to do her own work and no one came asking stupid questions she couldn't answer.

No, she couldn't tell them who they had been.

No, she wouldn't tell them who she had been.

No….her life had not been worth remembering. Not anymore.

She was stationed at the Hollow Alert Station. It was basically the building that housed all of the equipment that kept the soul pagers running and up to date. If there was a hollow sighted or detected in the living world, it's strength was identified and cataloged. Simultaneously, Shinigami of the proper strength and numbers needed to bring it down were informed of its existence.

It was a rather easy job that required very little interaction on her part. Perhaps the occasional command entered into the system if it got too backed up. An manual update of Shinigami who entered or left the living world every once in a while. Generally a very boring job.

Until one popped up on the screen that hit so close to home it made her heart skip a beat. She'd just been getting ready to leave, expecting her relief at any moment. The screen, taller than her by a good dozen feet, blinked a bright blue in one corner. The map automatically zoomed in on the area. The hollow was marked by a bright blue dot, shinigami in the area by red.

The little blue speck stood all alone for nearly 300 miles.

With a quick jab at the keyboard, she halted the processing of the creature, also stopping the nearest shinigami from being alerted to it's presence.

She knew that area all to well. The Hollow was attacking the valley where she'd lived her entire life. Also the valley where she'd died. It seemed now that this particular valley was cursed with bad luck. Now to have a Hollow, and such a powerful one at that, tearing through she doubted it was anything but bad luck.

And yet, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her this wasn't a coincidence. Her heart hammered in her chest as she took a step back, waiting for the screen to display the Hollow. The horrible feeling that she would recognize the Hollow was confirmed when the screen was filled with the horrible visage. The shinigami who was to be her relief appeared in rather short order when the despaired wail filled the corridors, a cry so tortured that it made his entire body grow cold. The poor man didn't know what was wrong, he just knew that something was indeed terribly wrong.

"Mayuri, I need Mayuri right now!" She cried, grabbing onto his kimono when he flash stepped into the room beside her. She fairly hung off of him, her deep brown eyes misted with tears, pleading. "Now!" She said again when he just stood, looking down at her in stunned silence. He didn't know which would be more hazardous to his health, to upset the Taichou with an unexpected demand, or to deny this woman her demand.

He was grateful when she simply disappeared, her shunpo carrying her far away from him and his terrible decision. Pretending nothing had happened, he shook of the chill that lingered after she'd left and sat down to begin his work. He cleared the screen glanced back once to make sure she was gone.

With a sigh of relief, he hoped she wouldn't come back any time soon. Turning back to his work, he sent out an update for a Hollow that was detected in the middle of an ocean. That would be something different for the brutes in the living world to track down. Oh well, if he had to have something exciting happen to him today, then they would too.

To Be Continued….


	3. Chapter 3

"Mayuri!" Keiko cried as she burst into his private lab. Nemu jumped in surprise and turned her doe eyes to the woman who nearly fell against Mayuri, stopping just in front of him. "Mayuri, I need you." She said, out of breath, her chest heaving with the effort to draw in big gulps of air.

"Excuse me?" He asked, clearly not happy with the interruption, especially from one such as her. "I believe the proper way to address me is Kurotsuchi Taichou." He corrected.

"I don't have time for your excuses. Nemu, get out." She ordered, not even looking at the woman.

"What?" He screeched, taking a menacing step toward her. Once again she was overwhelmed with the scent of him. The morbid smell that was like acid to her nose, making her entire face scrunch up.

"What I have to tell you I don't think you're going to want anyone else to hear. I'm trying to do you and your acrid image a favor." Why she still cared about what he thought of himself, or what anyone else thought of him, was beyond her. The look on her face, the steel in her eyes made him doubt for a moment his position as the superior in the room.

"Nemu, go check on the experiment with Hollow 726." He ordered. That was going on in a lab clear across the compound and would give this crazy woman enough time to speak her piece. Once she did, it would give him more than enough time to dispose of her, either by killing her or making her an experiment herself.

Without hesitation, his Fukutaichou left the lab, sliding the heavy metal doors closed with a forbidding slam.

"What more could you want from me? You pose as someone from my past for some sick joke. I realize the hate everyone carries for me, but I never thought those goody-two-shoe Taichou would ever allow one of their subordinates such a tasteless joke."

"It isn't a joke." She informed him angrily. "My name is Kurotsuchi Keiko. I am the woman you married in the living world."

His gold eyes slid over her body and despite his outward appearance, the familiar gesture sent the first tingle of warmth her body had known in years gliding through her. She looked the same, perhaps a few years younger than when they'd parted. Her black hair was the same length and same style, falling straight down to her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes so intense, showing everything. A window into the beautiful soul he'd fallen in love with. That certainly looked convincing enough. This woman even sounded like her.

"You can never prove that. That woman is dead."

"Surely you've heard of my unusual baggage from my living years. I remember it. All of it, Mayuri. Every moment with you. From the second I first laid eyes on you to the gut wrenching sight of your back going through that gate when you left."

His glared deepened, growing more cold. "Do not speak of such things!" He commanded in a harsh whisper. His face lowered toward her. "Those things mean nothing. Everyone knew of those events. Of my time in the living world."

"Did they know what a good father you were to Hayaki? Or that you were the first one to hold Yuki after he was born?" Keiko asked, her eyes staring back at him, just as hard.

Startled, he took and involuntary step back.

"How about that the night we were married, you carried me over the hills to a little cabin you'd built yourself? That you'd lined the floor with flowers. Or that you stared at me the entire night, not sleeping a wink." She let out a small laugh, closing her eyes. "I bet you had no idea I knew. You thought I was sleeping I'll wager. I didn't want to sleep that night. I was too busy trying to come to terms with the fact that after so many years to night you were finally mine." The small smile that had grown on her lips faded as she opened her eyes.

"Who else could possibly know that you promised me that you would find me? That you would either come back to the living world for me, or that you would find me in the after life."

He sputtered slightly, trying to say several things all at once. He shut up when her eyes darkened once more into anger. "Who, but the real Keiko, would know that you broke that promise?"

"You do remember!" He said, his tone oddly accusing.

"Every sad moment. Do you want to know how I died?"

"No." He said, turning his back on her quickly. "It is not relevant."

"Not relevant? Are you sure? Because there's a Hollow back in that valley that begs to differ. A Hollow that's ripping up the forest. Burning it to the ground, burning the forests around the valley. If we don't stop it, it'll burn through half the island. Kill thousands."

She called upon shunpo to bring her in front of him again. "You wouldn't know Yuki's younger siblings, but you knew him. A beautiful little boy. You want to know what happened to him? His family was slaughtered in front of him. His father, Hayaki, your _son_" She added emphasis to that, hoping to jog him back into his old self. "died defending them from more men then you could have survived. He came to me in the middle of the night."

We fled to where you left. It was there that the men found us. At my request, they killed Yuki quickly. He didn't suffer much. They even let me hold him…so that he would only look at me. You know what they exacted in payment for that?"

Before he could defend himself, she drew her zanpakuto and in the same movement of removing it from the sheath, sliced the meaty part of his upper arm. She uttered a word he didn't quite hear and a flash of light had him stumbling back. If it hadn't been for the next few disorienting seconds, she would have been dead instantly for that action.

He saw her through her eyes. She raised her hands, angry, bleeding circles where the fingernails should have been. She was sitting on the ground, bits of hair with scalp still attached sitting around her. A horrible ache on the side of her head where her ear should have been. Her body hurt everywhere, thousands of little cuts, patches where they'd simply removed her skin burned in the smoky air. In the memory, he knew this had been hours after they'd killed the young Yuki, a knife through the back of the ribs to the heart.

Her vision was fading fast, the edges blurring even as everything went dark.

"She's dyin'." One of them said, giving her a harsh kick in the ribs, feeling the bone snap with a sickening jerk of pain slamming into her abused body.

"Eh, leave 'er." The other said, disgusted. "She isn't any fun anymore anyways."

The first leaned down and pressed his lips to her good ear. "We're gonna go find this Mayuri guy you keep calling for and we're gonna do worse to him." He'd threatened. She knew that he'd meant it to be the last little bit of torture, but it had actually given her relief from the pain and terror. She knew that he would never get to Mayuri. That he would be waiting for her on the other side.

Keiko had died with her love for him foremost in her mind.

With a gasp of pain, Mayuri grabbed his head and stumbled back a few more paces. He ran his hands over his head, then his chest, assuring himself he was whole. His eyes snapped up to her, an odd mix of anger and sorrow in them.

He simply stood there for a long few moments, breathing hard and staring at her. "This Hollow?" he said after a moment, an order to explain more.

"Hayaki." She said, her voice breaking. The tortured look in her eyes made him uncomfortable. He wasn't the man she'd known in her living years. An odd part of him, buried deep inside was saddened by this. Wished even that he would go and comfort her. He shook it off, and stood up straight, stepping in front of her again.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded slowly. "An old Hollow, around about as long as Hayaki has been dead. Roams the same area of his death. Burns everything in it's path the way those who killed him did. Strong too. Damn strong. Like Hayaki was." Every word was spoke softer, by the time she'd finished Mayuri could barely hear her.

Keiko raised her chin and took a deep, shuttering breath to steady herself. "I was hoping that you would accompany me to the living world to take care of Hayaki. Help me lay our son to rest." She was fairly begging him.

"That isn't Hayaki!" He yelled. "Something has dared defile his memory." He turned and threw open the doors, so hard that one flew off the hinges, the other dented beyond repair, rebounding at the full arc of it's swing and slamming awkwardly back into place. She followed after him quickly, not bothering to look at those who gave their Taichou an odd look as he passed by.

No one dared defy Kurotsuchi Taichou's order to open the Senkai gate. They were so surprised by his sudden demand that they didn't even consider the bizarre nature of his trip. He was leaving with only one other Shinigami to an area that had been Hollow free for decades.

The two appeared in the forest, the same spot where he'd left so many years ago. Keiko could hardly believe that they were there. The events leading up to his promised return were a nightmare. The current situation was a nightmare. Keiko wondered if she would be comforted at all by the memories of her happy life after this. Killing her own son would be worse than her own death.

Mayuri turned toward her, his eyes oddly different. Like perhaps the old Mayuri had resurfaced for a short time, to help see her through this. Although he didn't look the same, she could feel something of the old Mayuri when this one laid his hands on her shoulder.

"You know this isn't Hayaki right? He died years ago. This is a creature that may resemble him, but it is not him. It is just a body of memories and regrets."

She nodded, wishing for a moment that he would take off that stupid mask. Just to have the comfort of his face once again. Any comfort at all.

Mayuri turned from Keiko again and headed in the direction of the wall of billowing smoke to the east of them. The entire valley was up in flames. Black trunks crumbling beneath the orange flames, acrid smoke rising into the air in heavy clouds. There had not been houses here in a long while, but she could still see familiar features of land, where a pond had once been. A small rise that had served rather well as a lookout's post just north of them.

The Hollow sat in the middle of the carnage. Both the Shinigami that approached knew where he sat. Keiko's home had once stood there. Despite the enormous reitsu coming from the creature, it was no bigger than a man. The white skin even covered a form that resembled a man. The mask was unusual. Made of fire rather than the porcelain substance most seemed to be. Somewhere in the flames she could even make out the features familiar to her son's own face. The empty black eyes turned toward the odd pair that walked between the flames without harm.

The large maw widened to emit a tortured, ear splitting scream, so filled with agony Keiko had to audibly repeat that this wasn't her Hayaki. As it walked toward them, it's footsteps left little licks of fire on the ground. Many of them simply went out in puffs of smoke for lack of anything to feed of off. Everything that could be burning already was.

"Go around behind it. If I cannot defeat it in the first pass, perhaps you can catch it by surprise." He told her, his eyes never leaving the creature. Keiko turned to do just that, but as soon as she made a step forward, the flames ahead of her erupted into an angry wall, fed by some unseen force.

The Hollow screeched again, as if chastising her for an attempted escape. It's void eyes moved from one to the other, as if not sure which to attack first. It seemed to grow more agitated as the moments passed. It howled at them again, throwing it's body into it, white hands fisted at its sides.

As the moments passed, it became more fixated on Keiko. It seemed to recognize her, taking a few hesitant steps toward her, now ignoring Mayuri all together. Keiko just barely avoided a pillar of fire that sprouted up at her feet. Her shunpo carried her a relatively safe distance away. Despite the fact that Mayuri was practically standing beside it, the Hollow continued to focus on Keiko.

"This isn't working." She yelled to be heard over the roar of the flames. "I can't sneak up behind it if it's focusing on me."

Mayuri growled and with a frustrated sweep of his arm, pulled out his odd looking zanpakuto. Moving forward to attack the creature only annoyed it, making the flames around them grow more fierce. It mostly ignored him, once the Shinigami was cut off from causing it physical harm.

Again it tried to attack Keiko, this time with a sweep of its arm. The heat that was coming off of the Hollow was amazing. It was then that she realized that the skin wasn't the usual white of a Hollow, but the white hot of a forge. No wonder the mask was in flames. Everything it touched would burst into flames it was so hot. Including the sleeve of her kimono.

She jumped back again, batting at the flames to put them out. She had to jump back again, several bursts of Shunpo moving her around the valley to the safest places she could find. Sweat was rolling down her face, stinging her eyes and tickling her neck. The heat was so intense she could smell burning hair, sure that hers was curling up at the ends.

"Hayaki!" Came a call from behind the Hollow. They both looked, the Hollow turning quickly, forgetting about Keiko for a moment. They were both surprised at the man standing there. He was dressed like Mayuri, but the odd mask was gone, faded white and black paint smeared on his skin. For the most part, his face was clear, his dark hair so black it shown blue hung in disarray around him.

There was the man that Keiko remembered. He looked like him anyway. Some of his features had changed, he looked more gaunt than the last time she'd seen him, certainly less healthy. But it was the Mayuri she could recognize.

With a furious cry, the Hollow ran at him. Clearly, it harbored more misgivings toward Mayuri than Keiko. He raised the zanpakuto, the blade beginning to turn a splotchy orange with the heat around them. His skin was growing raw, as was Keiko's. It was getting far too hot, especially with the Hollow feeding the flames whenever it attacked.

The thing never reached Mayuri. Suddenly Keiko was in front of him, sword raised and waiting. The thin steel slipped in the cheek of the mask, and came out at an angle at the back of the head. The black eyes focused on her and for a moment, she thought she could see sadness in them. Then, the entire Hollow simply disappeared, exploding outward in a burst of flames. Keiko was thrown back against Mayuri, sending both of them to the ground. He grunted, quickly reaching for his Zanpakuto, clamping an arm around her waist. He stood and quickly carried her back to the Senkai gate. The flames were still spreading, but they had mostly burned themselves out, having gone through fuel faster with the Hollow encouraging it.

Oddly enough, Mayuri didn't let Keiko go once they'd reached a safe spot. Despite the heat, he kept her body tight against hers. The two watched for forest burn, Keiko for the second time in her memory. Tears were streaming down her face now, making rivulets of clean streaks amid the soot caked onto her face.

"Hayaki…" She murmured, a low whine of anguish.

"You didn't kill him. You set him free. He can rest in peace now." Mayuri assured her. The voice still didn't sound the same, but somewhere in there she heard her Mayuri. She turned to face him. His gold eyes looked down at her, harder than before, but still beautiful. She'd never seen eyes like his, not before or after him.

"Why didn't you keep your promise?" She asked suddenly, frowning.

"Because…you weren't supposed to remember your living years. All the souls who come to Soul Society do so with clean slates."

"So I wasn't worth the effort of trying to find. You didn't want to work at our relationship again." She wasn't asking, she was stating a fact.

"Would you have been able to fall in love with this? I'm a different man now. Very different. The death of the village, of you changed me. I've done horrible things and I will continue to do them. I can't change back to the man you knew. I'm not him anymore."

She searched his face, looked into the hard eyes that stared back. "No…I suppose you aren't, are you?" He shook his head. "Do you think you ever could be?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'm strong enough for that. You always were stronger than I was. You handled our separation with grace. I ran away from it. I think I've run to far." He released his grip on her waist and took a step back. His mask was gone, burning in the fire somewhere. It didn't matter, he had a replacement.

He turned away from her then, opening the Senkai gate. He suddenly wished he had one. More than anything, he wanted to hide from Keiko. He didn't want her to see the man he had become.

"Mayuri?" She asked quietly. He didn't turn toward her, but his head cocked slightly, indicating that he was listening. "Those memories from those years with you are still the best I've ever had." She glanced back at the burning valley. Somewhere under the dirt were the bones of her family. Her own bones even, probably just a few feet beneath them. "If you can ever come back to me, I'll be waiting. I can promise that. I know you're in there somewhere, you came to help me with this. I can see you aren't the same man, but I know you can be better. I know that you can be someone I could fall in love with again. If you just try."

"I can't promise anything. I have a lot of work to do. It keeps me busy. You'll be busy too. Transfer to a new squad will be requested." He turned to look at her. Somewhere, deep in his soul, he was saddened by their exchange of words. He knew who the Hollow had been in life and it had been a long time since he'd had to open up his memories and heart to that past. That same part of him wanted to break free, but the walls were too high. The heavy doors slammed down too quickly.

Looking at the woman in front of him, his gold eyes softened for a moment. "I hope you keep your promises better than I do."

She sheathed her zanpakuto and took a step toward him. "Despite knowing what you are now, I still came to see you. You were the first one I came to when I needed help. And you helped me. That shows some promise."

Quickly, he turned toward the gate. "We have to go, the flames are spreading." He said quickly, then disappeared into the gate.

Keiko stood alone in the forest, brushing at her cheeks to dry the tears away. The flames ahead of her seemed like a sign of the finality of it all. The last string to her former life had been cut. Everything was different now. It was impossible for it to return to the way it had been. Too much had changed, far too long ago for it to return to some semblance of normalcy.

With a steady breath, she steeled herself to travel back to Soul Society. With or without Mayuri in her life, she had something to live for now. Her work was important, more so than she realized.

Stepping through the gate, she left her old life behind. It was fitting that Mayuri hadn't waited for her on the other side. She still had a hope that perhaps that one piece might come back into her life, but it was a slim on. Until then, she had to hold onto her love.

People said that it was never too late to try again. Sometimes that wasn't true. Sometimes you simply were too late. Sometimes you lost things forever. But maybe time could turn things back around.

Keiko would just have to see. She would have to be strong for the both of them. People just didn't understand Mayuri's past. Why he was the way he was. But she knew. He was just a broken man. Perhaps he could be put together. She would never find all the pieces, but those few moments of tenderness in her burning valley attested to the fact that her Mayuri was buried away deep inside.

Maybe, it wasn't too late for him to return to the surface.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry for the sad ending, but I couldn't think of anything else to fit Mayuri. However, thank you to all of you who have read this story to the end. I have to apologize for the delay in finishing. My life got a little hectic (nothing bad) and while it isn't an excuse, it is an explanation. I can't promise that I will be writing as frequently as before, but you will be hearing from me again. For those of you who review, I appreciate it very much and hope that you continue. I always love hearing from you. Also, if there are any suggestions for a new pair that my readers would like to read about, I am always open to suggestions.


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